Effects of Critical Thinking Strategies: Seeking Self-Efficacy in vocabulary performance and oral proficiency in Lower-Intermediate Iranian Learners

Authors

  • Hamed Barjasteh Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University
  • Sedigheh Shakib Kotamjani University Putra Malaysia
  • Reza Vaseghi Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24200/jsshr.vol4iss04pp21-28

Abstract

The present study aimed the effect of incorporating critical thinking into an EFL curriculum to in order to see whether it has any effect on learners' self-efficacy in vocabulary as well as speaking ability. To comply with the objective 44 lower-intermediate learners were divided into experimental and controlled group. Methodology: The controlled group received instructions for CT strategies as a part of their curriculum whereas the experimental group had their usual curriculum without CT instructions. As the pretests and posttests of the study, the participants took a test of vocabulary, a test of self-efficacy and a topic to speak about. Results: The results of the Independent Samples T-Test for comparison of pretest and the posttest of vocabulary for the control and experimental group showed that the participants in the experimental group had higher vocabulary scores than the control group. Also the results of the self-efficacy test showed incorporating CT strategies into an EFL curriculum statistically affected Iranian EFL learners’ self-efficacy. Conclusion: Finally the results of the speaking test showed that the participants in the experimental group improved both in terms of duration and the number of the vocabulary in their speaking skill. 

References

Bracken, B., Brown, E., & Feng, A. 2009. Critical thinking instruction. Journal for the Education of the Gifted. 33( 1). 7–37.

Dehghani, M., Mirdoraghi, F., & Pakmehr, H. 2011. The role of graduate students’ achievement goals in their critical thinking disposition. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15. 2426-2430

Fahim, M., & Komijani, A. 2010. Critical thinking ability. L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 vocabulary learning strategies. Journal of English Studies, IAUSRB, 1(1), 23-38.

Fisher, A. 2001. Critical thinking: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fisher, A. & Scriven, M. 1997. Critical thinking: Its definition and assessment. CA: Edgepress.

Ghanizadeh, A. 2011. An investigation into the relationship between self-regulation and critical thinking among Iranian EFL teachers. The Journal of Technology & Education, 5(3). 213-221.

Gardner, J. N. & Jewler, A. J. 2000. Your college experience: Strategies for success (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Gu, Y. & Johnson, R.K. 1996. Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes. UK: University of Hong Kong.

Kamali, Z., & Fahim, M. 2011. The relationship critical thinking ability of Iranian EFL learners and their resiliencelevel facing unfamiliar vocabulary items in reading. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(1). 104-111.

Malmir, A., & Shoorcheh, S. 2012. An investigation of the impact of teaching critical thinking on the Iranian EFL learners' speaking skill. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(4). 608-617.

Mirzai, Z. 2008. The relationship between Critical Thinking and Lexical Inferencing of Iranian EFL Learners. CA: Edgepress.

Myers, Ch. 1992. Teaching critical thinking.KhodayarAbily (Translator), Tehran: Samt

Paul, R. 1989. Critical thinking in North America: a new theory of knowledge, learning and literacy. Journal of Argumentation, 3, 197–235.

Porter, O. T., Igein, G., Alexander, D., Blaylock, J., McComb, D., & Williams, S. 2005. Critical thinking for nursing leadership.Journal Nurse Leader, 3.28-31.

Zimmerman, B. J., Kitsantas, A., & Campillo, M. 2005. Evaluación de la autoeficacia regulatoria: Una perspectiva social cognitiva. Evaluar, 5. 1-21.

Downloads

Published

2019-08-14

Issue

Section

Articles